focus on REPRODUCTION In search of oogonial stem cells Best of ESHRE & ASRM 2017 // MAY 2017 Switzerland: 35 years of IVF All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and/or persons interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the views of ESHRE. MAY 2017 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE // Chairman Kersti Lundin (SE) // Chairman Elect Roy Farquharson (GB) // Members Basak Balaban (TR), Mariette Goddijn (NL), Georg Griesinger (DE), Grigoris Grimbizis (GR), Borut Kovacic (SI), Nicholas Macklon (GB), Tatjana Motrenko (ME), Andres Salumets (EE), Petra De Sutter (BE), Rita Vassena (ES) Ex-officio members // Juha Tapanainen (FI, Past Chairman), Helen Kendrew (GB, Paramedical Group), Cristina Magli (IT, SIG Committee) FOCUS ON REPRODUCTION EDITORIAL COMMITTEE // Susanna Apter, Christine Bauquis, Bruno Van den Eede, Hans Evers, Roy Farquharson, Kersti Lundin, Nick Macklon, Juha Tapanainen, Rita Vassena, Anna Veiga, Simon Brown (Editor) FOCUS ON REPRODUCTION is published by The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Meerstraat 60, Grimbergen, Belgium // www.eshre.eu COVER PICTURE: Josephine van der Klaauw CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION As I will shortly complete my two-year term as Chairman of ESHRE, this will be my last editorial for Focus on Reproduction. At our Annual Meeting in Geneva I will become Past Chairman, and Roy Farquharson will take over. CONTENTS ESHRE’s chairmen’s cycle of serving two years as Chair Elect (to gain understanding of the Society’s structure, processes and tasks), two as READY FOR GENEVA 2017 4 Chairman, and two as Past Chair is a well functioning system which ensures continuity and ‘memory’ within the system - and a smooth turnover of GENERAL ASSEMBLY AGENDA 5 chairmen. It was also established from the very begining that the chairman’s position should alternate between a clinician and a scientist. This too is in my ESHRE NEWS 9 mind a wise decision, which has enhanced the perspective and diversity of the BEST OF ESHRE & ASRM 2017 10 Society and its Executive Committee. Two years ago I was asked what I wanted to achieve as a Chairman. My CLINICAL NEWS 14 immediate reaction was to look at the structure of the society and improve communication. I had seen how difficult it is to engage our members within HR OPEN ON THE MOVE 18 the Society. Indeed, looking back at my own views of ESHRE as a young IN PROFILE: RITA VASSENA 22 embryologist I only knew that there was an annual meeting each summer. Unfortunately, I think this is still the way we are seen by a majority of our ULTRASOUND IN INFERTILITY 24 members, as a society that has an annual meeting (and some Campus WHAT’S NEW IN REPRODUCTIVE GENETICS 31 workshops). We are sometimes accused of not being a democratic society. But, when we FROM THE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS 34 send out surveys or election forms for SIG membership or applications for national representatives, we receive a very low response, if any. So, in order to try and find out what our members want and how they see IVF IN SWITZERLAND 20 us, we last year commissioned a membership survey to be carried out as an IN SEARCH OF OOGONIAL STEM CELLS 26 exam project by a business management school. In addition, the three Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes asks if their chairmen plus the Chairman of our SIG Committee met with our young SIG existence can be verified by new technologies deputies to discuss how we can involve and stimulate young professionals in LAST WORD: ADJUVANT TREATMENTS IN IVF 40 reproductive medicine. It was very interesting to see that both of these initiatives raised several similar findings: we need to be much more active on social media, have more hands-on courses and workshops, arrange more network activities, and show more clearly the advantages of being a member of ESHRE. These thoughts will now be incorporated into our forward planning for the Society. With this I wish to thank all of you who have supported and worked with me during my two-years term - my ExCo colleagues, the fantastic team at ESHRE Central Office, the SIGs, and all others in the ESHRE structure who work so hard to maintain and develop our Society. And last but not least, I wish to remind you of this year’s Annual Meeting. It takes place in the beautiful city of Geneva, situated in a wonderful location between the lake and the Alps. We invite you all to come and share four great days of science in the form of precongress courses, posters, plenary lectures, free communications, and encounters with old and new friends from all over the world. Kersti Lundin ESHRE Chairman 2015-2017 // MAY 2017 ANNUAL MEETING 2017 Abstracts aim high Open programme selected from more than 1700 abstracts China now the most prolific nation MORE THAN 230 abstracts of original studies - from a fountain-high total of 1725 submissions - have been selected for oral presentation in Geneva. A further 800 abstracts have been selected for poster presentation. ‘The number of abstracts submitted for Geneva continues at a consitently high level,’ said ESHRE Chairman Kersti Lundin. ‘No other meeting in reproductive medicine can now command this sort of support year after year.’ was dependent entirely on the committee's score. The Geneva abstract total not only marks a near- As ever, the greatest number of abstracts were in record entry (slightly down on last year’s 1764 clinical science, of which embryology (343 total abstracts) but also reflects the very high standards now abstracts) is now the most prolific. Female fertility required for oral selection. The acceptance rate for oral (246 abstracts), andrology (203), reproductive presentation is now around 13%, making the endocrinology (198), reproductive genetics (129) and acceptance rate not far removed from that of ESHRE’s endometriosis (117) were also popular. flagship journal Human Reproduction. All abstracts, which were submitted in the Human As ever, submissions were refereed blind by a Reproduction format, were reviewed according to selection committee, which included, among others, ESHRE’s standard procedure of screening and scoring. the co-ordinators of ESHRE’s 12 Special Interest Screening aims to ensure that abstracts are designated Groups. Selection for the oral or poster programme to the correct topic category, while selection for oral and poster presentation is done solely on the basis of The second of scores awarded by reviewers. The International day 1’s opening Scientific Committee finally selected 235 abstracts for keynote lectures oral presentation from the 1725 submitted. will be presented For the first time ever, the highest number of by Professor abstracts came from China (146 submissions), with Dennis Lo, Spain (143), Japan (122), UK (116) and USA (101) whose discovery close behind. The ever-growing presence of China and of cell-free fetal Japan in the scientific programme of an ESHRE DNA in Annual Meeting continues, a trend also reflected in maternal plasma submissions to the ESHRE journals. paved the way And just for the record, another noteworty trend is for non-invasive the number of abstracts now submitted with female prenatal testing. first authors - 985 against 740 male. 4 Focus on Reproduction // MAY 2017 GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RATIFY SELECTION OF FIVE NEW ExCo MEMBERS Thomas Ebner is an Anja Pinborg is Professor Karen Professor Thomas Vidaković Snežana embryologist and IVF Professor in Obstetrics Sermon is Chair of the Strowitzki is Medical Head of Department specialist recently made & Gynecology at research groups in Director of the for ART and Minimally Professor at the Hvidovre Hospital, genetics and Department of Invasive Surgery for University of Graz, University of regenerative medicine Gynecologic ObGyn, at the Clinical Austria, with research Copenhagen, and at the Vrije Universiteit Endocrinology and Centre of Serbia and interests in vitrification specialist in Brussel (VUB) in Fertility Disorders at Chair of ObGyn at the and culture media. He reproductive medicine. Belgium. Karen was Heidelberg University University of Belgrade. was certified by ESHRE She has published more Chair of the PGD Women’s Hospital, Her interests are in as a senior clinical than 90 original papers Consortium from Germany. He has reproductive embryologist in 2008, with focus on ART 1998-2006 and later research interests in endoscopic surgery and and recertified in 2012, safety and reproductive Co-ordinator of the PGD, PCOS and she was a co-author of is a Board Member of epidemiology. She is a SIGs Reproductive endometriosis, and has the ESHRE/ESGE new ALPHA-Scientists, and member of the steering Genetics and Stem been a representative of classification of female a representative of committee for ESHRE Cells. She is Chair of Germany in ESHRE’s genital tract congenital Austria in ESHRE’s certification of the steering group for advisory CNR. anomalies. CNR. nurses/midwives. the ESTEEM study. Agenda of the 2017 General Assembly of Members To be held on Tuesday 4 July 2017, from 18.00 to 19.00, at the Palexpo, Geneva, venue of the 33rd Annual Meeting. 1. Minutes of the last meeting (held in Helsinki and published in Focus on Reproduction, September 2016) 2. Matters arising 3. Membership of the Society 4. Society activities - Annual meetings - Campus meetings - Studies and data collection - Accreditation and certification - Special Interest Groups 5. Human Reproduction journals 6. Paramedical Group 7. Financial report 8. Ratification of the new Executive Committee - Cristina Magli as Chairman Elect and retirement of Juha Tapanainen as immediate Past Chairman - Petra De Sutter (BE), Georg Griesinger (DE), Grigoris Grimbizis (GR), Tatjana Motrenko (ME), and Andres Salumets (EE) to step down as members having served two two-year terms - Thomas Ebner (AT), Anja Pinborg (DK), Karen Sermon (BE), Thomas Strowitzki (DE), and Snežana Vidaković (RS) as new members - Mariette Goddijn (NL), Nick Macklon (GB), Basak Balaban (TR), Borut Kovacic (SI), and Rita Vassena (ES) to serve a second two-year term as members - Estratios Kolibianakis (GR) to become an ex officio member as Chair of the SIG Committee 9.